This invention relates to a combination of hardware and software that creates an interface apparatus and system between digital cameras and a digital device such as a computer or various types of personal digital assistants (“PDA's”), such as Compaq iPAQs, Palm Pilots, and similar devices. In addition, the term “PDA” as used herein also includes cell phones and other digital devices with the capability to record and analyze the data, and upload the data and/or image files via radio transmission.
The interface apparatus senses that a photo has been taken, either by watching for a flash from the camera or by being connected to the camera's external flash connector. When a photo is taken, a signal is sent to the computer or PDA, where the event is recorded. The event can be recorded both in sequential order and with a time and date stamp. Barcode or other customer-specific data is then entered into the PDA, and this information can then be used to provide an accurate sequencing of events occurring at a photo shoot.
The purpose of synchronizing the digital camera with the PDA is to enable the event photographer to match customer data with individual photographs. In the past, event photographers have had to keep some kind of a logsheet, either on paper or by using a tape recorder or other device, in order to know which photograph belongs to what subjects/customers.
The alternative to keeping a logsheet at the shoot (which often requires one assistant per photographer) has been to make proofs of all of the photographs taken at the event when film has been used, or when digital cameras are utilized, to put all of the photographs on a website and require the participants and potential customers to look through all of the photos to locate their own. These approaches work for small events, especially those where the participants know each other and enjoy seeing all the photographs (sorority parties, weddings, etc.), but are impractical for large events where several hundred photographs are taken.
During the “dot com” boom, several companies raised tens of millions of dollars from investors who believed that an opportunity was created by placing event photos online for customers to view and purchase from a website created for each event. The assumption was that the opportunity to merge digital photography and internet marketing would create a new “niche” within the event photography industry. All of these companies failed, both because of the disappearance of funding for dot coms, and because their business model required the customer to remember to come look for their photos after the event and to page through hundreds of photos to find their own.
Although this novel apparatus and system has applications for other types of photography, such as studio portraiture where collecting and matching customer data is needed, one of the initial or primary uses at this time is for event photography. Although there is no specific delineation of what event photography encompasses, in general this category includes amusement parks (pictures taken at various locations within the park-not on the rides themselves), cruise ship photography, parties (proms, dances, fraternity/sorority events, reunions, concerts, etc.), resorts, and other places where roaming photographers take photographs of the participants.
Photographs at these types of events are sometimes taken at fixed locations (photo booths) and presold at the time of photography, such as Santa photos at shopping malls. However, the most common approach at these types of events is “speculation photography” in which the photographer takes a photo of a subject and markets it to the subject afterwards in the hope that the subject will purchase it. For fixed photo booth operations, several companies have developed systems that interface digital cameras with laptop or desktop computers, and if desired the photos can be printed immediately on location. However, these systems are not portable enough for use by roving photographers due to power, size, and weight requirements of the equipment.
As laptop computers and PDA's have become more prevalent, powerful, and smaller, there has been interest in interfacing the event photographer's camera with a wearable computer. Digital cameras make this possible because the image datafile is created when the photo is taken. Linking the photograph to customer information (name, package ordered, email address, etc.) makes it possible to market speculation photos. This can create photo revenue opportunities from concerts, amusement parks, etc. via a website. In addition, there are additional scenarios in which creating a link between photos and customer data can be used to identify, sequence, and produce prepurchased photos from Little League and other youth sports photos without keeping a manual logsheet or requiring the participants to look through hundreds of proofs to locate their own photos.
One company has developed a wearable computer in which the photos are downloaded to a small computer worn by the photographer. This approach is different from the present system in which a synchronization is created between the computer and the PDA device, and the photos themselves are not downloaded into the computer worn by the photographer. The approach of downloading photos to a small computer worn by the photographer has several disadvantages:
1) The computer and accompanying batteries are too heavy to be worn for very long, especially by amusement park and cruise ship photographers working outside on hot days;
2) There is a significant delay while each photograph is downloaded via firewire or USB to the computer worn by the photographer. This delay reduces the number of photographs that can be taken at many events;
3) The system is camera-specific and must be adapted to specific cameras one at a time. In contrast, the system disclosed in this application will work with virtually any digital camera; and
4) A complete system is very expensive—$3,000 or more vs. $800-$900 (or less) for the system disclosed herein.
Other companies may be offering a similar approach to the one described in the above paragraph, as many of the current models of professional digital cameras have some type of interface built in that can be mated to a computer. These approaches are different than the present system, and would have the same drawbacks and force the photographer to only use cameras that have had a unique interface developed for them. This is a significant problem in an industry where there are so many different brands of cameras that are being replaced with new models every year.
No prior approach transmits data to a PDA indicating that a photo was taken, and then thereafter uses software to match the photos to the customer data collected on the PDA. This approach has the advantage of being faster (no wait time required to download images to the PDA), less expensive, and can be applied to virtually any digital camera without requiring software or camera-specific adaptations.
Some prior art systems attempt to synchronize a photograph and associated data in various ways. For example, the OzE system requires that the photographer take a “synch shot” that indexes the camera's timestamp (embedded in the .jpeg image file) and the timestamp recorded by the barcode reader and later downloaded to a host computer. This is accomplished by having the photographer press the shutter button on the camera at the same time, or as nearly as possible, to the same time as the barcode wand is activated. This is believed to be done by “wanding” a special or beginning card.
This approach is open to human error, and the “match” between the firing of the shutter on the camera and the barcode read could be thrown off by too much a delay between the two actions, or an overlooked misread on the barcode wand. In many events this potential gap between the two actions would not cause a problem, but if a photographer then photographed a very fast event, such as a school graduation with people crossing the stage every 2 or 3 seconds, this variance in timing could cause some people to receive the wrong photos.